Kawhi Leonard And The Spurs Have Real Issues

We’ve been hearing a lot about Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs over the past like, I don’t even know how many months. At first it seemed a bit overblown but it’s only gotten more interesting and more real as it has gone on. What’s so surprising about it is that we almost never see this type of drama in the Spurs organization and honestly, Kawhi Leonard didn’t seem like one who would be causing all of this stir.

Now, we’ve got reports from Woj (so you know it’s legit) that the Spurs held a players only meeting over the weekend to “implore All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard to return to the lineup and help the team in its push for the playoffs.” We’ve literally got such an issue with Kawhi sitting out that even his own teammates are fed up and telling him to stop being selfish.

Apparently the conversation was “tense and emotional at times.” I guess multiple players spoke up and said how frustrated and confused they are about the divide between Leonard and his organization. None of this did anything to sway the All Star as he said he had good reason to be sitting out. He’s been looking good enough in his rehab that most think he should be back but he keeps pulling the fake-out by saying he’s almost ready to go and then deciding against it. It honestly reminds me of when Derrick Rose sat out all that time or when Clay Buchholz decided he couldn’t pitch even though he was perfectly healthy. It’s weird and you wonder what is going through his head.

Leonard always seemed like a robot built to play basketball. He never seemed to have any emotion or want anything else than to win games. He was the perfect Spur and now it looks like he’s alienated himself to the point that the team should actually consider getting rid of him, despite his talent. Guess what though? I don’t know who would want him. He sounds like a nightmare to me and I wouldn’t want the Celtics to even sniff this guy. Not only is he not playing but he’s not sitting on the bench rooting on his team and he’s gone outside the organization for medical help. There is something he is clearly unhappy with.

When well-respected veterans like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are publicly expressing how annoyed they are with you, it’s because you are the problem. They’ve earned the benefit of the doubt and at this point I think I want to hear from Greg Popovich. So far he hasn’t said a whole lot against him and I guess he’s just trying to salvage the relationship with a young stud like Leonard. I don’t think this is fixable though and it’s going to be interesting to see where this goes.